1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is enabling memory module slots in a computing system after a repair action.
2. Description of Related Art
The development of the EDVAC computer system of 1948 is often cited as the beginning of the computer era. Since that time, computer systems have evolved into extremely complicated devices. Today's computers are much more sophisticated than early systems such as the EDVAC. Computer systems typically include a combination of hardware and software components, application programs, operating systems, processors, buses, memory, input/output devices, and so on. Advances in semiconductor processing and computer architecture have served to push the performance of the computer higher and higher and have resulted in computer systems today that are much more powerful than just a few years ago.
Throughout the advancement of semiconductor processing and computer architecture, advancements in computer memory subsystems have played an important role in creating more powerful computers. To maintain the steady overall increase in computer performance, increases in the speed and reliability of computer memory subsystems have complimented increases in the speed and reliability of computer processors. In fact, the speed of these computer memory subsystems has increased by several orders of magnitude in recent years.
Computer memory subsystems are typically composed of a memory controller that provides access to one or more memory modules installed in memory module slots. Memory modules may be implemented as Dual In-Line Memory Modules (‘DIMM’) or Single In-Line Memory Modules (‘SIMM’). Currently, the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (‘JEDEC’) serves as an important source of design standards for these computer memory subsystems. JEDEC was founded in 1960 and is the semiconductor engineering standardization body of the Electronic Industries Alliance (‘EIA’). EIA is a trade association that represents all areas of the electronics industry and works to promulgate standards throughout the electronics industry that meet the needs of both manufacturers and consumers.
Often during the operation of a computer memory subsystem, one or more of the memory modules may fail. Upon detecting a failed memory module, the system Basic Input/Output System (‘BIOS’) typically disables the memory module slot in which the failed memory module is installed by mapping that memory module slot out of the processor's address space. At some later point in time, a computer technician may perform a repair action by replacing the memory module in the computer memory subsystem. To utilize the new memory module, the disabled memory module slot must be enabled. To enable the disabled memory module slot, the technician or another user must typically use the BIOS configuration user interface to traverse through various BIOS setup menus until locating the memory slot enablement menu. Because the technician or user often forgets to enable the memory module slot after performing a repair action, the computer memory subsystem does not utilize the new memory module. Moreover, when the user discovers that the computer memory subsystem is not using the new memory module, the user typically has to again request the assistance of the computer technician, increasing overall maintenance costs and generating additional downtime for the computer system.